Labour’s Lead Evaporates after Strange Conference Season

Labour and the Tories are neck and neck after a slightly strange conference season saw Johnson’s men claw back some lost ground.


FILE PHOTO: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech during the party's online conference from the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum in Doncaster, Britain September 22, 2020. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech during the party's online conference from the Danum Gallery, Library and Museum in Doncaster, Britain September 22, 2020. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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WESTMINSTER (Labour Buzz) - When Opinium gave Labour its first lead in more than a year you could almost hear the champagne corks popping at Labour HQ. A couple of weeks later, though, the Tories have got back to level pegging despite a chaotic fortnight. 

According to the poll for the Observer, both main parties are on 40%, a three-point drop for Labour. Voters are also uncertain about who they would like to see in Number 10 with Starmer retaining a one-point lead over Johnson. 

Both men, though, will be concerned to see Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s personal numbers continuing to soar high. He’s the only Government minister to have a positive net approval rating for his handling of the pandemic with 45% approving of how he has handled it with 23% disapproving. 

Elsewhere, the news is dire for the Tories. Almost half of the respondents disapprove of the way he has handled the pandemic despite 70% of people supporting the current restrictions. 42% of people believe Johnson is out of his depth handling Coronavirus and 39% believe he has acted incompetently and 39% think he has made the wrong decisions. 

According to Adam Drummond, head of political polling at Opinium the figures show the public believe the government’s economic response to the pandemic has been far more effective than its economic response. 

“The consistent pattern of the COVID period has been that the government’s economic responses have been seen as far more successful than more medical responses such as management of test and trace or PPE for NHS workers,” he said. “That has fed into public perceptions of key members of the cabinet with Rishi Sunak being the only cabinet minister with a net positive rating.”

His positive rating comes despite economic figures which rank as the worst of any G7 country suggesting people blame the medical response to the pandemic for the economic failures. 

For Starmer, meanwhile, the news suggests being seen as incompetent isn’t enough to prevent people from voting Conservative. It adds to the growing pressure on the Leader of the Opposition to do more than just point out the failings of the government but to outline more about the kind of country we might see under a Starmer government. 

(Written by Tom Cropper, Edited by Klaudia Fior)

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